When my new position in college radio in 2001 finally allowed me to freshly and fully explore new music for the first time in years, there was a dizzying array of unfamiliar artists to wrap my head around. Making it a little trickier for me, many of them were distinct, singular solo artists that adopted wholly different identities with names that would usually be affixed to a full band. This may have happened a generation earlier when I was a student DJ, but I surely didn’t remember it. Beyond the occasional, “Hi, my name is Steven Morrissey, but just use the last name, thanks,” there were bands with concocted names and solo performers going something that at least sounded like a typically human name. I wasn’t against it in the style of some old fogey who keeps bleating about how the bands in my day all wore matching suits and that’s the way it should be, dammit. It just made it that much harder for me to wrap my head around things.

So it took me a long time to figure out Badly Drawn Boy, a delay that was further compounded by the sense that the DJs that were overly enraptured with overly precious music liked him a lot. This didn’t mean I’d avoid him entirely, but the music took up residence a little further down on the priority list. In fact, I don’t think I even registered hearing a Badly Drawn Boy until about a year later when he provided the excellent song score for the Weitz brothers’ film adaptation of Nick Hornby’s About a Boy. Turns out–as is often the case when I’m preemptively dismissive about certain artists–I was being foolish. I can’t claim to be an endlessly devoted fan of Damon Gough’s songwriting (see how much better I’ve gotten at using the multiple identities of an artist casually and interchangeably), but it was certainly worthy of my attention: smart, warm, charming and humorous without being overly jokey.

By the time his next proper album came out in the fall, I was primed for it, knowing to at least listen through it, hunting for potential gems. I found that song to treasure fairly quickly in the single “You Were Right,” which had the added benefit of pairing nicely with one of my favorite Built to Spill songs. Even now when I listen to it, I’m reminded of the value in being open to absolutely everything out there. And I always get a smile from the line, “I think she took a shine to me.” Listen. You’ll get it.

Badly Drawn Boy, “You Were Right”

(Disclaimer: I’ll admit that my research may have been faulty this week–I was comically tired at different points–but it appears to me that the album Have You Fed the Fish? is out of print physically and, with it, so too is this song. Sure, it can be bough digitally, but yuck. Did Record Store Day teach us nothing? Regardless, should someone with due authority to make sure a request contact me and offer the directive that the song must be removed from the interweb, I will clearly, cleanly, proudly comply. It doesn’t even matter if they use their real name or some difficult moniker. That’s how serious I am about my pleasant obedience.)